Audio video display devices such as, to use an example for illustration, smart TVs, have multiple sources of content that is available for viewing through several different interfaces and applications. Content can be viewed from physical devices connected to the TV, such as a Blu-ray player, content applications residing on the TV, and from networked connections to the Internet and a Pay-TV Service Providers' video network.
As understood herein, a problem exists in viewers quickly and accessing relevant content as fast as possible in a live TV environment, owing to the large number of viewing choices available. Research indicates that many consumers aren't particularly pleased with many of the current options available to them when they're hunting for something to watch, especially when it comes to linear TV (which refers to first-run first broadcast TV programming). According to one report, almost half of U.S. consumers reported they can't find anything to watch on linear TV on a daily basis, and this difficulty has increased over the years. To compound the frustration, viewers spend almost 50% more time choosing what to watch content using video on demand (VOD) than linear programming.
Normally when a consumer searches for content the tiles shown on a guide represent a single content source. Sometimes the tile represents the file folder that expands into another folder of tiles that has the content selections. This kind of stacked or bracketed form of content discovery is rather lengthy if the number of tiles tends toward indefinite. While some providers such as Rovi, Tivo, and Gracenote have search engines and grid guides based on content databases they created with their own metadata, these features do not appear to assist consumers in quickly locating relevant content as much as would be hoped.